Discovering Sticks

It's been over three years since the start of the pandemic and my homeschool and childcare responsibilities have steadily diminished. The house is quiet during the weekdays and I'm back to making animations at my computer. It’s comforting to be back to a familiar routine, but what used to motivate my creative work was left behind with my pre-pandemic life.

The view from our living room.

Somewhere between frantically learning how to teach Montessori lessons at home and sending my youngest off to pre-school, I learned how to use tools and build furniture. With traditional hand tools I was able to work quietly inside of my house while my son clung to my leg or slept in his crib down the hall. Woodworking was a way that I could help improve our home, watch the kids, and fill the creative void left behind by my career.

Exploring shiny objects in my tool chest.

Tech equipment eventually started moseying its way out of the office and into storage. The empty space was filled by a 300 pound maple workbench, cabinetmaker's tool chest, and a healthy stack of lumber. A sign that I was on the right track was when hurricane Ian visited Raleigh and kindly dropped off a large poplar tree in my back yard. It destroyed our roof but it also introduced me to green woodworking and staked furniture — a rabbit hole I’m just now beginning to explore.

A procedural stick chair generator inspired by Chris Schwarz’s Stick Chair Book.

My need to sit quietly at the computer, learn, and be creative is something that will never go away, but I’m grateful to have discovered a new passion that will undoubtedly accompany me for the rest of my life.